


Promises

by blacktreeswhitesky



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-12 23:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12970338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blacktreeswhitesky/pseuds/blacktreeswhitesky
Summary: For Jane Ives, it’s always been like this. She was always searching for something, for someone.





	Promises

_Dr. Owens looks away from her, thinking. “That’s an idea. In theory, it just might work.” He looks back at her. “However, Jane, you must understand: what you’re suggesting – it hasn’t been done before. I can research more about it, lessen the risk, but of course, there’s still a chance it might not work. If it doesn’t – well, we don’t know what can happen to you. So, Jane, I’m asking you: Are you sure you want to do this?”_

_She almost found it funny, how he had to ask. She was Eleven first, before she was Jane. Before she went dancing, shopping and to school, she was in a lab, being experimented on. This seems like going back to that time again, only this time it’s different.  The man before her isn’t Papa, and he’s not manipulating her to do what he wants - in fact, she’s the one who suggested doing this in the first place_

_She looks into Dr. Owen’s eyes, determination fuelling her heart. “I do.”_

-

The alarm clock beeped and sixteen-year-old Jane Ives woke up, a feeling of emptiness seeping through her body.

She got up of bed. She washed her face and looked at the mirror.

 _Another dream_ , she told herself.

 _A dream about what?,_ she asked herself. She thought hard, but nothing. She sighed. She has gotten used to it by now – waking up and feeling like losing something important as soon as she opens her eyes. She knows it’s due to a dream – a dream that seems to fade as soon as she wakes up, leaving behind only feelings of emptiness, of longing. When she was younger, she put so much effort into remembering what the dreams were about, even putting a notebook under her pillow so she can write whatever she can recall as soon as she wakes up. However, it was no use. Any attempt she makes in remembering her dreams is like trying to hold on to threads she can’t seem to reach. That did not stop her from trying, though, but now she’s much more accepting when her efforts go in vain. 

She moved away from the mirror, and went downstairs.

“Morning Jane,” a blonde woman smiled as she saw her.

Jane smiled back. “Morning mom.”

Her mom placed a plate of waffles on the middle of the table. Then, she glanced at her, and it’s as if she sensed something wrong. “Did you sleep okay?” she asked worriedly.

 _Some things never change_ , Jane thought. She looked at her mother and replied, “I did.”

-

“Hey,” Kate Sawyer, Jane’s ever cheery best friend, greeted as she appeared before her.

“Hey,” Jane greeted back.

“So, I should warn you,” the petite blonde said, “news about how you and Ian broke up is spreading like wildfire this morning. Just a head’s up.”

Jane groaned and nodded. “Thanks.”

Kate looked at her thoughtfully. “Are you okay?”

 “I am,” she replied.

Expectedly, Kate did not believe her. “Are you sure? You can tell me anything.”

“I know,” she said. It’s true. The two teens were friends even before they went to school, ever since Jane played with Kate when some older kids did not let Kate play with them. “I’m just worried about the convoluted rumors that will float around,” Jane added, flashing her most convincing smile.

Just then, a tall teenage boy sneaked behind Kate. He put his arm around the blonde girl. “Hey, Kate.”

Kate jumped. “Jake!” she exclaimed. She turned around and he kissed her passionately.

Jane coughed.

The two teens broke away from each other. “Sorry,” they said.

Jane smirked. “Hey Jake,” she greeted her friend and Kate’s boyfriend. 

“Hey Jane,” Jake said. “Um, so are you guys finished with Mr. Gallagher’s assignment?”

Jane just shook her head, smiling. “Come on guys, let’s go to class.”

-

_She overhears Dr. Owens tell Joyce and Will about her plan._

_“No, I won’t allow it,” she hears Joyce say. “You know what that kid has been through. You can’t possibly think this is okay.”_

_“I don’t. But the kid has a point. We know that all our efforts to stop the other world from integrating with ours are failing because our world is too closely linked with it. Jane created that connection when she opened the gate, and when she closed it, the connection remained. As long as that connection exists, we can’t fully stop this world from invading ours. Her idea is a way to get rid of that connection.”_

_“And you think this will work?” Joyce says, her voice a mix of anger and concern._

_“Truthfully, I don’t know. However, right now, I think it’s worth a shot.”_

_She overhears more muffled arguments. She feels a bit guilty about not telling Joyce first before she came here, but she knows that if she did, she would’ve not seen Dr. Owens at all._

_She remembers the time when she first met Dr. Owens. It was in the middle of her first year in Hawkins High School, after she inadvertently caused another classmate’s ‘accident’.  Her dad pleaded her to come to his friend to help her, and seeing how the accidents were interfering with her friendship with the boys and Max, she agreed._

_What her dad didn’t tell her was that his friend was a doctor. At that time, doctors to her were the people who put electrodes on her head, instruments on her body and took down notes as she screamed. Immediately, she wanted to leave.  She nearly destroyed Dr. Owen’s home in doing so, but eventually her dad calmed her down. She agreed to talk to him. She agreed again when her father took her the second time, and again, and again. It helped that Dr. Owens was nice. He did not just ask her questions about her abilities write notes and put instruments on her body. He told her about his late wife, and his son in the city and her daughter in med school.   He asked her about school, and her friends. Eventually, she began to warm up to him. She was still aloof, but at least she’s less against meeting him than she was before._

_It was only until after he stopped the bad men from killing her did Dr. Owens fully earn her trust. The gates started opening at that time. Government agents came to Hawkins, looking for the reason. Eventually, they found out that Dr. Owens was seeing her. She remembered bad men barging in his home, while they were in one of their sessions. The bad men accused her of opening the gates, and all the unfortunate incidents that happened because of it. They said they were there to take care of her. She was not sure whether that meant they’ll take her away or kill her. Dr. Owens stood up to them, telling them that she’s just a kid, that he’s been working with her for almost two years, that she can’t possibly be the reason for the gates, that she actually helped close some of them . When the bad men refused to hear any of it, he tricked them, allowing him, her, and her dad to escape. When they did, he assured her that the gates weren’t her fault, and that if it were he would know._

_She hears Joyce start to calm down when the door clicks._

_“Hey,” Will says._

_“Hey,” she says, smiling weakly._

_“You should have just told me, you know,” Will says as he sat beside her._

_She does not look at him directly. “I wanted to know if it was possible, and Dr. Owens will give me the most honest opinion.”_

_“Should have still told me.” Will says as he sat next to her._

_“You would have tried to talk me out of it.”_

_Will shrugs. “I would, but I would have understood. And I do understand.”_

_She looks at him, the boy whom she rescued from Upside Down, the boy who was responsible for her finding this family, the boy who, because of her father’s marriage to his mother, is now his brother. She looks at him, and sees that he meant it. He does understand, and she wonders why she even doubted that he will. They always did understand each other._

_She hugs him tightly, and Will hugs her back._

_When she lets go, Will looks at her sternly. “Do you think this will work?”_

_She nods. “It might. I opened a gate before. I opened it between two worlds. This time, I’ll open a gate between two points in time. I’ll make sure I won’t end up in the lab. I’ll make sure I won’t open the gate to Upside Down.”_

_Will nods, looking away._

_-_

The alarm clock beeped and Jane woke up, exhausted. She got out of bed.

-

“Have you guys ever thought that maybe we’re living in an alternate timeline?” Jake asked.

It was lunch break and they were in the school cafeteria. Jane listened in as she examined the contents of the so-called ‘pasta’ in her plate.

“Okay, so what made you think of that today?’ Kate asked.

They were used to Jake’s random bursts of conspiracy theories. Sure, some of them are too far-fetched and some of them are downright silly. Still, Jane can’t help but be fascinated with them, because she too has such an active imagination. Besides, it helps that Jake always tell them with so much enthusiasm. No doubt that Kate found that enthusiasm endearing, though she’ll never say it out loud.

“Well you know the movie _Back to the Future_ , right? Marty went back to the past and he inadvertently changed his parents’ future. Well, what if someone went back in time, and we’re just living the altered future that they accidentally created?” Jake said, obviously pleased with what he came up. “I mean, we wouldn’t know, would we?”

“Hmm, I guess so,” Kate replied. “Except in real life time travel is not possible.”

“You don’t know that. What if in the future . . .  “

Jane began to drift out of her friends’ conversation. Jake and Kate are always like this, always arguing about their theories and ideas. For that reason, people who do not know them might doubt if they’re really together. Jane doesn’t, though. She knows that underneath all that silly banter lie two people who really care for each other.  

“What do you think Jane?”

 Kate’s voice pulled Jane out of her thoughts. “What?”

“Do you think time travel is possible?” Kate asked again.

She looked at her two friends, each expectedly waiting for an answer.

“I think so, yeah.” Jane said.

“Ha!” Jake exclaimed.  “I told you.”

“I can’t believe you would side with him, Jane! I’m your best friend.”

Jane shrugged. “What? There’s so many things that we don’t know about how time works.”

Jake smiled at her and took his hand up for a high five that Jane caught.

Kate groaned. “Fine, but I think creating a portal to an alternate universe is better.”

“No way!” Jake said.

Jane smiled as she allowed her friends to fall into another argument.

-

_Mike barges into the room. “You can’t do this, El,” he says. “There’s got to be another way.”_

_“There is no other way, Mike and you know it.  Every time we close a gate, the mind flayer will create another. At the rate in which it’s creating gates, it’s only a matter of time before Upside Down completely takes over Hawkins.”_

_“It’s too risky. We don’t know what will happen when you go back. Are you even sure this will work?”_

_“In theory it can. In theory, if I change the past the right way, I can shift the timelines so everything bad that happened will not have happened. Kind of like Back to the Future.”_

_“In theory? In theory? Can you hear yourself, El? What happens if your theory is wrong?”_

_“So, what, Mike? We won’t do anything? We’ve been trying to close the gates for about a year, Mike. We’ve lost a lot of people – Max, Lucas, Dustin, Nancy, dad. This plan – it’s not perfect, but it’s a chance to save them, and it’s the best one we had for months.  I know you want to save them, too. I know you’re the kind of person who’ll do anything to save his friends.”_

_“Yes, but . . . but not like this,” he says. He pulls her close. “You already said so yourself: We already lost so many people. If you do this, I’ll lose you, too. I can’t lose you again El. I promised myself I won’t lose you again.”_

_She hugged him back. “You won’t lose me, Mike. I promised you, remember? If this works, then I’ll still be alive and maybe, so will Max, Lucas, Dustin, Nancy, and dad.”_

_“But it would still be different, wouldn’t it? Even if your plan works and all of us survived, it would still be different. We might not even know each other.”_

_“You don’t know that. Maybe all of us will find each other.”_

_“And what if you fail?”_

_“I won’t. And if I do, then, you, Will, dad, Joyce and Dr. Owens will look for another way. Let me do this, Mike. Please. Let me do this, and I’ll promise you I won’t forget if I succeed. Let me do this, and I’ll promise you we’ll find each other.”_

_Mike pulls her closer, and she feels his tears on her shoulder._

_“Okay,” he says._

_-_

Jane woke up, tears falling from her eyes. She looked at the clock – 2:03 am.  She looked at the mirror, wiped the tears away.  She fell back to bed and willed herself to sleep.

-

For Jane Ives, it’s always been like this. She’s always been searching for something, for someone. These feelings have been there for as long as she can remember, along with the dreams she cannot quite to explain. 

Her friendship with Kate and later, Jake used to distract her from that feeling. However, now that her friends have gotten together, it is getting harder and harder to ignore it.

She’s happy for them, really. Jake is a decent guy - awkward, funny, smart, and understanding. From the moment Jake transferred to their school in 8th grade, Jane already sensed her Kate’s interest on him, though Kate denied it every time. As they became friends with him, it became apparent that Jake had an interest in Kate, too. It took a year of going in circles for them to get together, but now that they are they make a pretty great couple. They balance each other out, and they understand each other.

It’s not that her friends are neglecting her. Far from it, they always make efforts to make her feel included. Sometimes, they would even invite her to their dates when they know she’s feeling a bit lonely. She just declines, knowing that her friends deserve some alone time together.

It’s also not because she’s jealous of them or what they have. God knows she’s not attracted to Jake or Kate in that way. She’s not the kind of girl who’s in a hurry to get into a relationship either. Still, seeing Jake and Kate together makes her feel like she’s forgetting something, like there’s something she needs to do though she doesn’t know what. It’s a feeling that she associates so much with her dreams

That feeling of longing is part of the reason why she dated Ian.

Ian was the epitome of average. Not too popular and not too geeky either. A basketball player but not the star athlete. Good-looking in the boy-next-door kind of way.

For a long time, rumors have been going around about how he liked her, though he was too afraid to ask her out.

_“You’re kind of intimidating, Jane,” Jake would say. “I think it’s due to how seemingly unfazed you are with everything. And your stare. Definitely intimidating.”_

Eventually, Ian shyly asked her out, just a few months after Kate and Jake got together. She said yes, and after a few months they officially became a couple. For a moment, it was okay. Ian was a nice boyfriend. He took her out to the movies, asked her what she wanted, and drove her home.  He’s polite and he makes her laugh. Her mom definitely likes him, and that’s saying something. Still, she can’t help but feel there’s something wrong.

Try as she might to fit Ian in that gaping hole in her heart, it just didn’t work. Eventually, she began to notice Ian drifting away, becoming more distant.

Finally, after they watched _Satisfaction_ , all the unsaid words that had been building up between them bled through. 

“I think we should break up,” Ian said.

She was caught off guard. “What?”

“Let’s be honest, Jane. I think I’m the only one pulling the weight in this relationship. I think I’m the only one who actually _cares_. Do you even want to be with me? Do you even love me?”

She looked at him, dumbstruck. She never thought about it, to be honest. Ian was nice, convenient. She never really thought much about what she felt about him, but he was just always _there_. “I . . . I don’t know,” she says, avoiding his eyes.

He looked away, hurt. “Let’s just end this Jane. For your sake and mine.” He said the words with so much determination that Jane can’t help but feel guilty about everything. Whatever she feels or doesn’t feel about Ian does not negate the fact that he’s a good guy, and that she feels so bad in hurting him like this.

“Okay,” Jane can only say softly in response. She got ready to leave his car.

“Wait,” Ian said, before she even opened the car door.  He leaned in, tucked a strand of her curly brown hair under her ear like all those times before. Only this time, he doesn’t kiss her. He only looked at her with that longing expression. “I really do hope you find what you’re looking for, Jane,” he said, finally. He allowed her to get out of his car and he drove away. 

She brushed the thought away. For Jane Ives, it has always been like this. She was always searching for something, for someone.

-

_It became like a puzzle. Dr Owens says that in order for her idea to be successful, she must not only prevent herself from opening the gate, but also prevent other people from doing so. To do that, she must prevent the lab performing the experiment on any other people, any other kids. Moreover, in order to lessen the risk of changing the past more than they intend to, she must interact with as few people as possible in the past. All of these she must do in the least amount of time, to minimize whatever unknown effects time travelling can do to her body._

_They plan for two weeks. Dr. Owens pulls out all the information he can get about Project MKUltra and Project X. Eventually, even Mike and Joyce, who were so against this whole idea in the first place, began to chime in._

_In the end, they decide that she’ll go back to 1970. She’ll send a letter to the local news stations, informing them of what’s happening in Hawkins lab. It will be revealing enough to incriminate Dr. Brenner and his team with the children’s disappearance and the lab’s inhumane experimentation procedures. However, it will not be too explicit to the point that it will reveal the experiment’s details and goals.  After that, she’ll infiltrate Hawkins lab. She’ll cause various alarms to go off, causing a commotion. Amidst the chaos, she’ll enter Dr. Brenner’s office, destroy every record, every note he has on Project X. Theoretically, if their plan works, timelines will shift, and time will take her away._

_It was Sunday when they do it – 6 th March 1988. _

_They are at some warehouse in Hawkins._

_“Are you sure you want to do this?” Dr. Owens asks her, one last time._

_She looks back at the people behind him. Joyce looks worried. Will smiles weakly at her and Mike . . . Mike just flat out stares at her, his eyes telling many things at once._

_She nods at Dr. Owens and it almost seemed like goodbye._

_Dr. Owens nods back. He hands her a picture – it was a picture of this very warehouse, only it was taken on November 13, 1970. She blindfolded herself. She searches the void for a connection, and then she sees it. She sees the warehouse’s red colored walls, the cargo boxes and the man picking one up. She begins to push at the image, and began to ripple. She pushed harder and harder until something breaks. She feels her body being pulled apart. It took her immense effort to push it back together again. When she does, she’s supporting herself with a red brick wall. She looked around. Dr. Owens, Mike and Joyce are not in sight. Instead, she sees the same cargo boxes and man in the picture. She scanned the room and noticed the calendar on one of the walls – the month was November, 1970._

_She did it - she travelled through time._

-

 “Jane?” Her mother called, pulling her out of her sleep.

She opened her eyes lazily and focused on her mother.

“Come on, we have to go.”

 -

It’s Saturday, 5th of March 1988. They were at their Aunt Becky’s house. Her mom makes a point to visit her sister every once in a while.  Jane doesn’t mind. She likes her Aunt, and truthfully, she admires the relationship between the two sisters. It almost makes her wish she has her own siblings.

Her aunt rented  _Firestarter_ and they played it in her aunt’s VHS player.

 “You know, this is the kind of movies that should have existed when you were in college. Remember when you signed up for that mental hippie crap?” her aunt said, smoking a cigarette on the couch.

Her mom brushed it off. “That was a long time ago. Besides, I deferred, didn’t I?”

“What are you two talking about?” Jane asked, their conversation catching her interest more than the movie did.

“Project MKUltra,” her mom said nonchalantly. “When I was in college, I was asked to participate in that project – something about expanding the capabilities of the mind. It seemed official enough, and the pay was good. However, a few weeks in, a fire started in Hawkins National Laboratory, the lab in which I was assigned to. Then, a few days after that, news erupted about how the scientists in Hawkins lab, most especially the lead scientist assigned to me, Dr. Brenner, was responsible for the kidnapping of nine children. Moreover, news erupted about how some test subjects in Hawkins lab were given dangerous drugs without their informed consent. Public backlash caused Brenner his job and the lab’s closure. It was kind of a big thing at that time. Obviously, because of the news, I deferred from the project, even before the accusations were even proven. Good thing though, because a few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with you.”  She looked at her. “Even now, I’m very grateful for whatever god, whatever twist of fate that prevented me from participating in that project. Who knows what might have happened if I pushed through? We might have ended up being the inspiration of one of King’s novels.”

“Easy there, Terry. It’s not like you two would have gained superpowers.” Her aunt immediately interrupted.

Her mother looked at her aunt, annoyed. “You don’t know that.”

Her aunt rolled her eyes.

Jane turned her eyes to the TV screen, her mother’s words running through her mind.   

-

“You seem awfully quiet today, honey,” her mother said as they drove home. “Is there anything wrong?”

Jane continued to look out the car window. “Nothing’s wrong mom,” she says “I’m just tired, I guess.”

Her mom fell silent for a moment, looking ahead. “Is this about Ian? He doesn’t pick you up much these days.”

“That’s because we broke up.”

Her mom looked at her worriedly. “You never told me that.”

“I didn’t think it was that important.”

Silence stretched between them.

Her mom sighed. “Do you remember when you were little, Janey? You used to call yourself El. It’s short for Eleven, you said. You would tell me about your powers and your adventures – how you can move things with your mind, how you can open and close gates to another world. You used to tell me how you’ll protect me against monsters and bad men.”

Jane’s lips turned up a little bit at the thought. When she was about 5 or 6, she had this crazy belief that she’s a superhero, complete with a superhero name, fighting off bad guys with her mind. She used to drive her mom crazy with all the stories she made up.

“I miss that kid,” her mom said. “Now, you’re all grown up.”

“Mom,” Jane said, hoping to stop this conversation

“Well, it’s true. I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing. It’s just a fact. You’re growing up. You’re starting to be more private about what’s happening to you.  In less than two years you’ll go to college.” Her mom sighed. “What . . . what I’m trying to say is that I know I can be a bit intrusive and I know I can sometimes take too much interest in your life. But . . . but that’s only because I love you so much Jane. Sometimes, I think you’re the only thing I got right. When I learned that I’m having you. I told myself that I will become better – that I need to be better – for you. It didn’t even matter that your father never cared about us. I had you, and you were one of the best things that ever happened to me. But, I know I’m going to let you go someday. When that time comes, I don’t want you to feel afraid of telling me anything. I don’t expect you to tell me everything, but I hope you’ll be able to at least say if something’s bothering you.”

Jane looked at her mother, not really knowing what to say. “I . . . thanks,” she managed to reply. “But nothing’s really bothering me mom. I’m just having bad dreams.”

“Bad dreams?”

“Yes. I don’t really remember what they’re about, just that they’re . . . bad. I’m sure they’ll go away on their own.” 

Her mom studied her for a few seconds, before looking back on the road. “Okay,” she said. “I believe you.”

-

_She does everything according to plan. She sends the letters they’ve written, dropping them anonymously in the mailbox._

_Then, she went to Hawkins lab. She caused the alarms to go haywire and disabled the cameras. She slipped passed the guards, using her powers discreetly when someone tries to stop her. She goes to Dr. Brenner’s office, pulls out every record, every note he has about Project X. Then, she takes a lighter out of her pocket, and lights them up. She waits until the fire spreads before she pulls the fire alarm. She’s leaving the room when she sees him – Dr. Brenner. She freezes. All these years, the face of the man whom she called Papa still terrifies her and enrages her at the same time. She stays in the burning room, waits for him to pass. For a second, she contemplates on killing him right now, but she thinks against it. The thing that she learned these past few years was that hate is only meant to be acknowledged and then let go. It should not be revisited and nurtured. Revenge only opens wounds that started to heal. She sees Dr. Brenner scream at two researchers in the lab. She takes this as a cue to leave, but she feels dizzy, too dizzy. She wonders if she’s dying. She wills herself to push through, but then she looks at her hands. She’s fading. She lets out a combined laugh and sob. She’s doing it. She’s changing the past. She drops to her knees, dizziness overcoming her. She thinks of the life she’d lived so far –from her time in the lab, to how she met the boys, to her life as Jane, to the gate’s reopening. Kali was wrong. She doesn’t need anger to harness her power. She already has something better – love. She thinks of the people she’d come to love – dad, Joyce, Will, Max, Lucas, Dustin, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, and Mike. She lingers on his thought the most. She remembers her promise. If she exists in this new timeline, she’ll remember to keep it. She’ll find him. They’ll find each other. She’ll remember. She’ll find him. She’ll keep her promise. She’ll keep her promise._

_She repeats this thought as time takes her away._

-

Jane woke up, crying. She needed to go away. She needed to go somewhere, anywhere.

She took a shower and got dressed.

She took her mom’s keys. It’s Sunday, but her mom still has work, due to her getting the Friday off.

She wrote a note telling her she’ll be at Kate’s.

She’s walking out the door when she saw Kate at her doorstep.

“Hey,” Kate said. “I just wondered if you have notes for Ms. Martin’s class.” Kate must have noticed her haggard expression. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere.” Jane said, passing Kate by.

“Jane, what’s going on?” Kate asked as she kept up with her. She caught her hand, and forced her to look at her.  “Oh my god, you’re crying. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said, shaking her head. She didn’t even notice that she’s still crying. “I just want to go away,” she says, getting in her mom’s car.

Kate opened the car.  “Why? What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Jane said. Why the fuck was she crying? “I just need to get away.”

Kate sighed. “Okay then,” she said, defeated. “I’m going with you. Let’s go to Jake’s, too. Invite him to come.”

“What?” Jane asked, Kate’s words sobering her up just a little bit.

“I’m not going to let you go on a road trip to nowhere while you’re in this emotional state. Especially when I know I’m the one who’ll be getting the endless calls from your worried mother.” Kate opened the car door on the other side and went inside. “So come on. Let’s go. I’m ready for an adventure. Nothing interesting’s happening anyway.”

Jane did what she was told.

-

A few minutes in and Jane’s on the road to somewhere with an enthusiastic Kate and a very confused Jake.

“Where are we going again?” Jake asked.

“When are you going to stop focusing on the destination, and just enjoy the ride?” Kate said.

“Wow, that’s weird coming from you,” Jake replied. “But seriously, where are we going? Jane?”

“I don’t know.” Jane said.

Jake either realized his questions were going nowhere or Kate gestured him not to push further. Either way, Jake did not ask more. 

A song by U2 played on the radio.

“Oh, I love this song,” Kate said.

“ _I have climbed highest mountain_

_I have run to the fields_

_Only to be with you_

_Only to be with you,"_ Kate sang along.

_“ I have run, I have crawled_

_I have scaled these city walls_

_These city walls_

_Only to be with you.”_ Jake joined in.

“ _But I still haven't found_

_What I'm looking for._

_But I still haven't found_

_What I'm looking for.”_ They sang together and laughed.

She let her friends sing along to various songs on the radio as she kept her eyes on the road. She doesn’t know where she was going, not exactly, but she knows she’s going the right way, if that makes sense.

She didn’t know how long she was driving when she saw the sign _.  Welcome to Hawkins_.

“You didn’t tell me we’re going to Hawkins,” Jake said.

“You know this place?” Kate asked.

“Yeah. My uncle and aunt live here. Uncle Bob and Aunt Martha. Uncle Bob owns a radio shack and Aunt Martha’s a teacher. Maybe we can visit them.”

They parked at a nearby diner. The owner, a stout bald man with a friendly smile, greeted them and took their orders. Jane can’t help but feel he looked familiar as she smiled back.

Kate and Jake planned what they’ll do as she looked through the window. The diner door chimed as a middle-aged couple went in.

“Hello, chief,” she heard the owner say. “Hello, Joyce. How are you two newlyweds?”

She heard the woman laugh, and the man reply with a vague “It’s been good.”

They decided they’ll visit Jake’s aunt and uncle first. After that, they’ll just walk around the town.

Jake’s aunt and uncle were very accommodating. They kept apologizing about how messy their house looked while reprimanding Jake about how he should have told them they were visiting.

“It was just a spontaneous decision,” Jake only said.

They offered them food to eat, although she, Kate and Jake insisted they already ate. They teased Jake mercilessly about Kate.  They tried to offer Kate and her places to visit while saying that they wished Hawkins had more to offer them - “It’s just a small town, unfortunately.” Martha had said.

When they said goodbye to Jake’s aunt and uncle, she asked if she could just walk around town alone. Kate and Jake reluctantly agreed, deciding they’ll meet at Benny’s Burgers again at a quarter to 4.

She walked around town, not knowing where she’s going (a recurring theme that day, she noticed). Every so often she’ll take a second look at the people that she passed by – the African American teenage boy and a  fiery redhead in another diner, a brown haired teenage boy talking about this art college with a blonde haired teenage boy, a man with fabulous hair giving advice to a curly haired teenage boy.  

She doesn’t know how long she was walking when she noticed it’s almost a quarter to four. She needed to go back to the diner. She looked at the town, feeling some sort of sadness. She realized she doesn’t want to leave. This town, regardless of her never visiting it before, felt like . . . like home, a different home than the home she had known, but a home nonetheless. Reluctantly, she went back to the diner and met Kate and Jake.

They got ready to leave, got in the car.

“You know we have to go, right? Your mom will go haywire if she finds out you’re not at our house.” Kate said, noticing her morose expression.

Jane smiled weakly, and nodded.

She started the car and got ready to go.

She was driving for a few minutes when she looked briefly out the side of her car window and saw _him_ – a teenage boy her age with dark curly hair driving his own car. It was only for a brief moment, probably just a second when their eyes met – but she knew, she knew somehow, that all this time she’s looking for him. It took her a moment to remember she’s driving and that she’s got to keep her eyes on the road.

She pulled over the nearest parking lot, stopped the car.

“Jane?” Kate asked, worried.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

She handed Jake the car keys. “Um, here,” she said. “You two go home.”

“What?” Jake said, confused.

She took her bag and went out the car.

“How will you get home?” Jake called out.

“I’ll take the bus!” she shouted.

She ran back to the place she saw the boy, checked the places to see where he might have been headed.

She’s running at the sidewalk when she saw him, running to where she is.

For a moment they just stared at each other. She felt herself start to cry, and to her surprise, tears were falling from his eyes, too.

Suddenly, the silliness of all of it all struck her. He doesn’t know her. She doesn’t know him. What would he think about this strange girl crying in the sidewalk? She started walking ahead, passing him by. If he asks, maybe she’ll tell him that she just forgot something at the diner.

She has not gotten far when she felt him take her hand.

“Wait,” he said, and she realized she missed that voice, if it was even possible to miss something you have not even heard before.

She looked at him, and his eyes were full of tears. He put his hand on his neck and his face started to go red. “I’m sorry, this is going to sound weird, but . . . have we met before?”

She smiled. “I thought so too.”

-

She got home that night.

Her mom was furious, but she didn’t care.

He called her the next day, and they were calling each other every week after that.

He invited her over in spring break, and shyly she said yes.

Her mom looked at her like she was crazy when she asked permission, but she nonetheless agreed.

She met his friends – Max, Dustin, Lucas and Will – and somehow they accepted her like she’s an old friend.

“I’m worried about you, Jane,” Kate said one day at lunch.

She looked up from her plate of mac and cheese. “Why?”

“Well, you know – you and this guy.”

“You mean Mike?”

“Yes, Mike. I mean, he seems like a good guy, and you do seem happier . . . but don’t you think you’re going too fast? I mean, you talked to him for like a few minutes during our trip to Hawkins, and now suddenly you’re visiting each other every other weekend, calling each other every night, spending spring break with him. I mean, it was months after Ian first asked you out when you two even got together, and you’ve known him your whole life.”

Jane knew where Kate was coming from. She knew how it looked to other people, but somehow she doesn’t care. She can’t explain it, but when she saw Mike that day in Hawkins, it felt like she’d known him her whole life.

“It’s different with Mike,” she can only say.

Mike visited her that weekend, took her out to the movies.

Afterwards, they go to a diner, have pizza.

“Mike,” she called.

“Yes?” he says, his brown eyes giving her all the attention.

“Do you think this is weird?” she asked.

“What is?”

“Us being together. Do you think we’re going too fast? I mean, I don’t think so, but do you?”

Mike thought for a few minutes. “No, I don’t think so,” he said thoughtfully. He sighed. “I hope you don’t laugh at me, but for as long as I can remember, I was always waiting for something, for someone. It’s cliché, but when I saw you that day, I knew that you were the person I’ve been looking for my whole life. I knew . . . I knew that I had to talk to you. When you walked away, I sucked all the objections I had in my mind, and just took a leap of faith. When we talked, it felt like  . . . like . . .”

“Fulfilling a promise?” Jane finished for him. 

“Yeah,” he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back. She knew _exactly_ what he meant.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I never thought I'll actually finish this, but here it is. Actually, this idea has been haunting me even before Season 2 came out, and it's only recently did I found the patience to write it. I always wondered what El would be like if she was not involved in the lab at all. 
> 
> Also, as some of you might have noticed, this was inspired by a famous Japanese animated film. I won't mention its name to prevent spoiling it for other people, but I'm sure if you've seen it, then you'll know what I'm talking about. All the ideas that I took from that film are not mine. 
> 
> Song sang by Jake and Kate is entitled "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. 
> 
> Again, thank you for reading, and feedback is most certainly welcome! :)


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